QUEEN’S PARK — Green Party of Ontario leader and MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner released the following statement following the FAO report on the province’s plan to create 15,000 long-term care beds:
“Successive governments have chronically underfunded elder care, punting this problem down the road as baby boomers enter their senior years.
The FAO’s review makes it clear we will need an additional 55,000 beds, in addition to the 15,000 beds promised by the government, just to keep the waitlist at the same level by 2033.
If this is the government’s signature policy for solving the hallway healthcare crisis, then it falls woefully short.
We cannot continue to treat seniors in emergency rooms, hallways and broom closets. But without additional long-term care capacity, that is going to be the sad reality.
The government must find new revenue to invest in additional care for seniors, not only in the number of care communities but also in the quality of care.
They can start with dropping their $30 million politically motivated carbon price lawsuit, reversing tax cuts for high income earners, and then look at re-allocating the $4.2 billion that is being spent annually to subsidize electricity prices with the UnFair Hydro Plan.
We also need alternatives to costly long-term care spaces that allow those who wish to age in place to do so.